BEARD: Aggressive Zeller leads IU's dominating win over Iowa

Cody Zeller drives the baseline around Iowa's Adam Woodbury in early first half action at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday.

Indiana forward Cody Zeller, left, is fouled by Iowa forward Eric May during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, March 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Cody Zeller scores from the paint while heavily defended by Iowa's Aaron White, left, and Adam Woodbury, right, during the first half of a game at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — While Saturday night didn't get off to a fabulous start for Indiana's Cody Zeller, the 7-footer never quit pushing himself to play at a high level.

Zeller knew his Hoosier teammates needed him to dominate against a physical Iowa basketball team. More importantly, he knew what he needed to do to have a huge impact against the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten contest.

"I just wanted to keep being aggressive," said Zeller.

Eventually, the game came to him. When it was over, Zeller had his eighth double-double of the season, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds to spark a 73-60 victory over the Hawkeyes.

He made seven of 13 shots from the floor — after missing his first four, including a dunk attempt. And he also connected on eight of 13 free throws.

"Cody had a phenomenal night," said IU coach Tom Crean. "He just continues to get better and better, continues to get a lot of attention on the court and earns everything that he gets."

Trying to put Tuesday night's 77-73 loss to Minnesota behind them, the Hoosiers (25-4, 13-3 Big Ten) made it a priority to get the ball in Zeller's hands early and often against Iowa (18-11, 7-9). But once the ball got there, the sophomore forward didn't do much with it in the opening minutes of the game.

He missed a layup 23 seconds after the opening tip. He missed another shot on a putback attempt 41 seconds later. Then he came up short on a driving dunk attempt two minutes in. He missed another layup a minute later.

"You want to make those obviously — should have made them," said Zeller.

But then, there really wasn't much scoring going on in the first half by anyone. IU led 26-14 at halftime as both teams got off to a rough start shooting, each connecting on less than 30 percent of the attempts.

"The thing that kept us going was our defense," added Zeller. "We kept getting stops on the defensive end … When you are getting stops you are probably going to win."

Maybe. But when the other team can't stop Zeller from scoring, it increases IU's odds of winning even more.

In two of their three conference losses — including the setback to Minnesota — Zeller had been held to fewer than 10 points. Crean wasn't interested in that scenario repeating itself against the Hawkeyes.

So the Hoosiers got the ball inside to the 7-footer from Washington, Ind. And just to mix things up, Crean even put the ball in Zeller's hands on the perimeter, allowing him to make a slashing drive from the right elbow and, later, putting him in a point-center role out top.

"You see the way we utilize him," said Crean. "You can put him out on the perimeter. You can run pick and rolls with him. You can isolate him. You can put him at the elbow, in the post, in the mid-post. You can put him in multiple pick and rolls, so many things."

Once Zeller got untracked, it opened up lanes for other players.

Freshman point guard Yogi Ferrell was the biggest beneficiary in finishing with a career-high 19 points.

"I was just pretty much trying to pick my spots," said Ferrell. "I know the last game I definitely missed a lot of layups I could have finished. Tonight I felt like I did a better job of taking one more dribble and being under control."

Victor Oladipo, who was in foul trouble most of the night, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Those efforts were needed because the reliable long-range duo of Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls were a combined 0 for 15 shooting, including 0 for 6 from behind the arc.

"The sign of a mature team is that we never ever wavered on the defensive end," said Crean, whose team only made 21 of 54 shots (38.9 percent) on the night.

The Hoosiers made up for some of that by forcing 19 Iowa turnovers — 11 off steals — and blocking six shots.

Zeller was a big part of that, too, blocking three shots and getting two steals.

The most dynamic play of the night, in fact, began with his diving deflection — knocking the ball away from Iowa's Anthony Clemmons — and sprint to the basket to receive a behind-the-back pass from Will Sheehey for a monstrous dunk. It was only eight minutes into the game, but it set the tone for the rest of the night and seemed to spark Zeller.

"We used to do that drill in high school where you would tip from behind," said Zeller, recalling his days playing for the Hatchets of Washington High. "I haven't used it much but it's a tribute to Coach (Gene) Miller, my high school coach."

The effort by Zeller got the crowd of 17,472 out of their seats and greatly amplified the noise inside Assembly Hall.

It also impressed Crean.

"When he takes it up another notch like that, he's at a completely different level," Crean said of Zeller. "When he plays like that and uses his athleticism like that, he's a unique player.